


Where Have You Been?

by IntellectualAmbassador



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 11:21:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16680634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntellectualAmbassador/pseuds/IntellectualAmbassador
Summary: The one where Riley gets jealous... then has some realizations about Farkle and her life.





	Where Have You Been?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This was one I just wanted to bang out. The quality is NOT that great, so go easy on me. But hopefully you enjoy. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought!

**Where Have You Been?**

_**The one where Riley gets jealous... then has some realizations.** _

“Hi Farkle! I love your beanie!” The girl says, beaming at him as she comes up to talk to him. 

Farkle had changed greatly over the years, shedding his nerdy exterior and demeanour for a more cool, modern, hipster look. While he still had some of his nerdy mannerisms such as  _Farkle Time_ and a cheerful  _yay_ after Mr. Matthews would assign the class some homework, he had calmed down somewhat.

This seemed to give him somewhat of a polarizing effect with women. There were some who thought he was a bit too intimidating and didn’t want to deal with him, however, there were a lot of women who liked the hipster, chic, pretty boy look and wanted to know more.

Namely, the girl of the day, Jennifer, had been eyeing him for a while. She sat behind him in AP Chem, and was always asking him for help when they would work on their chem problems, always smiled at him as he walked in the halls, but never got the courage to talk to him until today.

Farkle didn’t mind the attention, of course. It was a great boost to his confidence, and really cemented the idea in his mind that  _he changed._ He had been able to combine the best parts of himself into a new and improved Farkle. Not that anything was wrong with him before... but he seemed to be on a journey of self-discovery, and for a teenager, he hasn’t done so bad for himself.

Although, one thing that unintentionally came out of this journey was him pulling back from his friend group. He would still study with them, and hang out at Topanga’s with them, but he had become quieter than usual around them. At first, they thought Farkle was upset or sad, but he waved off such concerns stating that  _he was fine_. But, in reality, he just wanted to figure out who he was outside of his friends. 

His breakup with Isadora Smackle probably had something to do it, but if it did, he just lumped it in with all the other reasons why he needed to find himself. 

Cultivate his own identity and all that teenage-angst jazz. 

So, he joined a few clubs at school, made some new friends, got more recognized in school for his achievements, and even started working out regularly. 

None of this was missed by one of his best friends, Riley Matthews. She noticed the minute that Farkle had been pulling back, and while she wanted to go  _full Riley_ and dig deep into why he felt that way, she knew that Farkle needed space. Their relationship was always different because they were able to know what the other needed, almost like a sixth sense. 

It was very interesting to Riley that when she had seen the way Jennifer was interacting with Farkle, a peculiar emotion awakened. It wasn’t anger or frustration, but it was one of a similar nature. She must have been staring and observing them for almost five minutes because when she looked down, the pencil that she was holding had  _snapped_ into two. 

 _How’d that happen...?_ Riley thought to herself, before looking back up and seeing that Farkle and Jennifer were walking to class while talking amiably. Another feeling had overcome her, but she recognized this one from the whole triangle fiasco with Lucas. 

_Longing._

“-Riley.” Maya said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Bay Window. Bay Window after school.”

“Okay...?” 

Maya smiled, looped her arms in Riley’s and walked to art class with her... seeming to know more than she was letting on. 

The rest of the day went by in somewhat of a daze. Going through the motions like she usually did these days, Riley didn’t know how she ended up back at her Bay Window with Maya, but she was glad that she did. 

After sitting in the Bay Window for an indeterminable amount of time, with Maya staring at her, trying to get a read on her, Riley huffed, turned to Maya, and started talking. 

“Maya... how do you know when your feelings for someone are real...?” Riley asked, almost pleading as if she’d been wrestling with this for some time. 

“Is this about Farkle, and that girl who you looked like you wanted to fight earlier today?” Maya asked, with a smirk on her face. 

“Wait, what? I did not! Maya... why would you say that?”

“Honey... it was obvious. Lucas was walking me to my locker, all that Texan hospitality, when we saw you looking like you wanted to fight someone. So, we were curious what was getting you all riled up, then we saw who you were staring at and it all made sense.” Maya explained, shrugging her shoulders and raising her hands nonchalantly. 

“Wait... why did it make sense, Maya?” 

Laughing and shaking her head almost dismissively, Maya knew that Riley had always been a little oblivious to the world around her, even though she had gotten better in recent years. 

“Riley. If one thing has been clear, it’s that you two have always loved each other. It was just a matter of who would come to realize it first. And, it seems like you’re the winner. Time to collect your prize!” Maya said in that 1930s announcer voice that she would bust out at random times. 

“Me? Love Farkle? I mean, he’s my best friend and we’ve known each other since we were kids... but, I can’t love him. I mean- he’s Farkle!” 

“And you’re Riley. But that doesn’t change the facts that you two have always been there for each other. We’re the best of the best friends. Even more so than our dad’s if you ask me. But, honey, truthfully... you’re different when you’re around Farkle. He has the same effect on you that Lucas has on me and Zay has on Smackle.” Maya explained. 

“And what is that, exactly?” Riley challenged. Crossing her arms and looking down, Riley is baffled that Maya would even suggest this. This is the same Farkle who used to wear turtle necks every day for years. The guy who claimed he loved both of them equally since the time they met. How could they go from being best friends to lovers? 

“He’s a calming influence on you. He keeps you grounded. To be honest, you guys keep each other grounded.  Things really haven’t been the same with you two since the end of grade nine. I’m sure you’ve noticed?” 

“What I’ve noticed is that Farkle promised to love us equally! Maya that’s what he promised us. You know Farkle. He-He wouldn’t lie to us...” 

Moving in close to Riley, Maya wraps her arms around Riley in a giant hug. Leaning in to Maya’s embrace, Riley mumbles a quick  _thank you_  while Maya caresses her head, comforting her. 

“Honey. Farkle would never lie to us. I truly believe he does love us both. But, you’d have to be lying to yourself if he think he loves us in the same way. Farkle and I are like family. Brother and sister. You two, however, have always been different. Remember Christmas, when you got him his gift that you had been working on for  _three months?_ Or in grade eight, with all that triangle nonsense, and he blurted out that you still liked Lucas? Or in grade nine, when he came into your window, during the night, while he had a  _girlfriend_ , and told you that  _you’ll always be Riley, that’s your permanent record._ I’m pretty sure it’s clear who he loves.” 

“Everything’s changing, Maya. I’m not sure what to do.” Riley admitted. Change has never really been Riley’s strong suit. Although she’s gotten particularly better in recent years, dealing with changes within her friend group was never easy. Especially after her and Lucas broke up a few months ago. Riley knew she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t coming. They weren’t Cory and Topanga 2.0 like she had hoped, and honestly, she was relieved. 

The more time they had spent together, the more Riley realized that they were better off as friends. However, what had surprised her the most wasn’t the fact that Lucas had agreed, but it was what he said as he was leaving her room after the break up. 

_Riley, I hope you don’t get so caught up in life that you take for granted the people that have been under your nose this entire time._

It was cryptic statement, and she didn’t understand what Lucas meant at the time. However, Lucas was more observant than she initially expected. He wasn’t just ‘the face’, and Maya could attest to that. After the drama from all the couples splitting had blown over, everyone took time to examine their feelings and come to their own conclusions about who they were and what they felt. 

_Maya realized that she did like Lucas all along, and those feelings were hers and hers alone. Lucas had reciprocated, stating that ‘it had always been Maya’ and they had gotten together shortly after that._

_Zay and Smackle had been getting closer since Farkle had decided to call it quits. There were no hard feelings between Smackle and Farkle. They had realized that their ‘experiment’ had run its course, and after some initial awkward, but funny moments, they had gone right back to normal. Eventually, Zay and Smackle had announced that they had begun dating._

_As for Farkle, he had started pulling away from the group shortly after this had happened. And Riley had noticed that Farkle had been getting quieter and quieter for some time now. Although, she didn’t say anything, she did make a mental note to talk to him about it. Nevertheless, Farkle would always brush off with her concerns with a smile that wouldn’t quite reach his ears, and a ‘I’m fine Riley, just busy with school’. Riley was never convinced, but she trusted Farkle..._

Come to think of it, Riley realized that she hadn’t really taken time to process her own feelings and come to her own conclusions. She had been so busy with her own activities and trying to be there for her friends that she never sorted herself out. 

“Maya, I-I think I’m going to go for a walk. There’s some things that I need to think through.” 

Apparently, Riley had been deep in her thoughts for quite some time, because Maya has dozed off, snoring quietly. Not wanting to disturb her best friend, Riley left a note on Maya’s sweater before hopping out the Bay Window to her next destination. 

Climbing down the ladder to get to the sidewalk, Riley was about to start walking when she had seen none other than Farkle Minkus making his way towards her. 

“Riley. I’ve been looking for you.”

“Oh yeah? Well, you know where to find me.” Riley responded. She knew that came out with a bit more bite than she wanted, but she couldn’t help it. It had been a while since she heard from him and Riley had no idea what was going on. 

“Can we talk? I know I’ve been M.I.A for a while. But, hopefully I can explain some things and try to get back to some semblance of normal.”

“Okay. Let’s walk.” 

Taking off towards Topanga’s, the two sophomores began to weave into each other’s lives again, almost as if they had never left. 

-I.A.  


End file.
